A Not So Peaceful Night
by caesara
Summary: Harry has only been at Hogwarts for 3 days and he may already be in trouble. When Snape finds him on his hands and knees, feeling around on the hallway floor at midnight, he knows that his chance of having a peaceful night are over. one-shot.


"Out past curfew, Potter? You _would_ be the first one of the year wandering around the castle after hours." Snape scoffed, as he glided from out of the shadows of the dimly lit hallway.

And here he had been thinking that he would enjoy his night quite alone. Seeing Potter in the hallway, feeling around on his hands and knees made the Potions Master resignedly aware that his peace would have to wait for some other time.

_Here were go._ The older wizard thought wearily. For all the work that he had done as a spy, it amazed him at how exhausted this one boy made him.

_Probably from the mental strain of stooping to his level of vocabulary._ A wry voice came from his head, as he remembered very clearly how he had repeated himself almost silly while trying to speak to the boy previously.

Harry froze at the sound of his teacher's voice and ceased his groping at once.

"_What_ is this about?" Severus asked sharply, "Some kind of game, Potter?" He stepped closer to the cowering boy and took an intimidating stance over him.

Harry's mouth opened and his eyes flashed, but he quickly thought better of it and closed his mouth, Snape noticed.

_At least the boy has some sense of self control._

There was a slight trace of embarrassment on Harry's face. Ducking his head, he stood up, rubbing his arm self consciously under the professor's piercing gaze. He waited for some type of punishment to begin. Maybe he would be paddled?

"I'm waiting, Potter." Was Snape's dramatic reply, and he crossed his arms with impatience.

Harry seemed to calculate his answer carefully. He did not know this man well, so he didn't know what could set him off. He picked at his school robe nervously.

"My head aches, sir." He stated.

It was true. He felt as if there were two strong beating hearts under his eyeballs and there was that throbbing at his temples that had persisted throughout the day.

_Well maybe if I could __see__._ Harry thought bitterly. He reached under his round frames and rubbed his itchy eyes for what seemed like the umpeenth time that day. _Stupid malfoy and his goons. _

Snape narrowed his eyes and scoffed. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Potter definitely knew how to talk without giving much away, Snape would give him that. Still it would be annoying to pry information out of the twit.

Whatever the situation was, Snape wanted it dealt with quickly. Spending a whole night with Potter could possibly be worse than _Crucio_ from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He thought about how much time he had spent in that situation and was convinced that he would be in the other just as much.

"I hardly believe that is your reasoning for being out so late."

Harry noticed that the man didn't accuse him of lying, which had to count for something. He shifted uncomfortably as a silence stretched between them. This was strange. He expected the professor to march him back to his room, ear tight in his grasp and maybe even wallop him a good one. Instead, the professor studied him acutely.

_I probably look like a wreck. My eyes are itchy and watery and I'm bloody tired. I wish he would just send me to bed and put me out of my misery. Then, at least, I'd had a reason for quitting the search. _ Harry thought fingering the paper in his pocket in his nervousness.

When Snape said nothing else, Harry was sure he was supposed to leave.

"I guess I'll er just be going now." He mumbled. "Goodnight, sir."

Harry turned, still feeling odd about the whole situation. He was too tired even for a hasty retreat. His defeat and gloom weighed him down considerably. The last thing he expected to hear was a commanding voice.

"Follow me, Potter."

Harry knew an order when he heard one and he rushed to obey, almost losing sight of Snape when he turned a corner that Harry would have otherwise missed. He could do nothing but follow and wonder what his punishment would be, praying fervently that he would not have to stay up all night to complete it.

_It can't be any worse than Uncle Vernon. _ Harry thought, trying to reassure himself.

They entered a room. Harry guessed it to be the potion master's office. He blushed madly when he walked straight in and ran into a chair. Snape looked back at him and frowned before pulling out a drawer and rummaging through some items, muttering something about entrusting his life and all of the wizarding world to a klutz.

Harry was expecting a ruler to come out. He was already planning to ask for it on his bottom because he didn't think that he could take another one on his hand. Uncle Vernon loved those. He looked down at his hand that Madam Pomfrey had fixed and sighed. Never mind. He would not ask. It might make Professor Snape even angrier. Although, truth be told, he did not look that upset, only stern.

Snape pulled out a vial and handed it to Harry who drank it obediently. If it wasn't a ruler, he wasn't going to complain.

He breathed a sigh of relief as the potion went down and he felt immediate relief. The pounding in his ears slowly retreated, as did the throb in his temples and eyes. He loved magic.

"Sit, Potter."

Harry did as he was told in the closest seat that he could find and pushed his glasses up onto his nose, frowning slightly when they slid right back down.

"Why does your head ache?" Snape queried, once again looming over the boy.

"What?" Harry asked. He hadn't heard. He was too busy focusing on the fact that he was finally not in pain.

"_How_ could I possibly make that question any simpler?" Snape growled, losing his patience. "It's twelve o'clock at night. Now explain to me why you were groping around on the floor in the hallway." He ordered.

"I-I ummm..." Harry didn't know how to explain it without feeling dumb. He had just arrived at Hogwarts three days ago and he was already in trouble? He was still exhausted from his last couple of nights with the Dursley's, where he had been forced to stay awake all night to clean the house. Now he was about to pass out because he was so tired and was being asked stupid questions from a teacher who did not like him that much. It was unfair. It was stupid. He sure_ felt _stupid.

"I just want my glasses back!" Harry cried, looking up at Snape miserably. Tears of frustration threatened to spill.

"Your glasses are on your face, boy." Snape said slowly. He instantly thought of a number of spells that could have been used on Potter.

_Merlin, his first week of school and he's already being hexed?_ Snape thought. He didn't know if he disliked the idea because he cared for Potter or if he didn't want to be the one (and he knew he would be!) who would have to fix Potter every other time he turned around.

"These aren't my real ones, sir." Harry began, "Mal-I mean _someone_ took them and put these in their place. I really can't see. That's what I was looking for and why I bumped into your chair. I'm sorry, sir really."

He fiddled with his hands and waited for a snarky comment.

"Are you lying to me, Potter?" Snape found himself asking, though he was fairly certain the boy was not.

Harry's eyes got wide and he jumped up. "No, sir! Please, Professor Snape, I didn't lie to you I swear! They really did take my glasses, see!" Harry pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Please, sir I didn't lie. I know I'm not supposed to and I wouldn't do it for silly old glasses! Look, I can barely write with a quill-"

"_Hush_, child!" the older wizard snapped. "Merlin's beard, just give me the paper. A simple 'no' would have sufficed." Snape growled and snatched it from the boy's hand.

"And sit." He added as an afterthought as he read the note.

_Precious Potter_

_your glasses are where the light never shows and the kids never go._

_We hope you have fun stumbling around for them. We've left some better ones for you to use._

There was no signature, but Harry had almost said their names and Snape remembered Draco teasing Potter abut having muggle glasses that must not work very well if he couldn't make a potion correctly.

The Granger girl had been quick to defend Harry, but honestly Snape had thought nothing of it. In truth, he had been surprised at the caliber at which Potter had botched his potion earlier in the day. His first couple of potions had been barely passable, but his most recent could have been made by a four-year-old throwing things about. Now he knew why, at least.

He sighed before handing the paper back to Harry who thought it was his cue to leave and almost got up until Snape crossed his arms once more and asked when they had been taken.

"This morning." Harry mumbled.

"And you thought it was a good idea-_look_ at me when I speak to you-you thought it was a good idea to tell no one - no teacher, even - of your problem?" He asked.

Harry's brow wrinkled. "I didn't want to get in trouble, sir. And I didn't think that anyone would care. One time my glasses broke when Dudley h-accidently hit them- and I went a whole month without them."

Snaped sighed. "And your aunt and uncle did not have them fixed?"

"No," Harry agreed, "But it was ok. I was just going to keep looking for my glasses until I found them." He said, as if it made perfect sense to fumble around the entire castle during the night in attempts to satisfy a horribly thought up riddle. Harry seemed to be confused as to why his professor wanted to know.

"You had no adverse affects then, that month? No migraines at all?"

"Well yeah..." Harry said, fiddling with the note.

"Then why would you think that any professor in this school would not care? We do not wish our students to be suffering from migraines during our classes, Harry. That's when we have mishaps like today." He said arching his eyebrow.

Harry caught on.

_Oh, my potion._

Severus felt like he needed to explain more.

"Even if it does not directly affect your performance in classes, you are to report to me or Professor McGonagall or any other professor as soon as you can if you are feeling _at all_ unwell. Is that clear?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

"Verbal answer, please."

"Uh y-yes, sir. I understand."

He looked up at his teacher, not knowing what to do next.

"Having addressed that...issue, I do believe I know where your glasses are. You are not to move." Snape order with a pointed finger and a stern expression.

Harry agreed and waited in the chair, legs swinging and waited for Snape to come back. At least now he was feeling a lot better due to the potion and strangely, having someone who _wanted_ to know when he was ill, was comforting.

When the professor came back into the room he pressed cold hard frames into Harry's hand.

The boy immediately lit up.

"Thank you, sir!" He exclaimed. "No one's ever done anything this nice for me before!"

He took off the fake glasses and put on his old ones, beaming as he did.

Without thinking he threw his arms around the man's middle and squeezed.

Severus stood stiffly in the child's embrace before patting his head awkwardly. He could not remember the last time he had been hugged.

Harry pulled back, an insanely big smile plastered on his face.

"Silly child," Snape muttered before he reached down and magicked his frames to be straight and more tight around his ears.

"Where were they?" The boy asked in awe, "I looked everywhere!"

Snape scoffed to cover a laugh that threatened to come out. "Potter, your eyesight is abysmal. There is no way you could have found them. If you must know they were the loo on the second floor and the last stall."

Harry sighed and made a face. "They were really in the loo?"

"I cleaned them, if that's what you were worrying about." The professor offered.

"Wow, thanks, really." Harry said again and wiggled his frames on his face. "These are the straightest they've ever been on me!" He grinned.

"Surely, they were straighter when you first wore them, Potter." Snape said, inclining his head.

"No, sir. They were super crooked. But I figured if someone else used them and they got crooked, then they must have sure been good glasses 'cause that person wore them so much." Harry explained, scratching his forehead through his hair before he yawned.

Snape studied him for a moment longer, taking in the information. _The boy probably used accidental magic to ensure that his glasses fit his prescription. _He was surprised at the feeling of concern that he had in the pit of his stomach.

"But you can see now?"

"Yes, sir, just fine."

Severus paused again. "Nevertheless, you shall still visit Madame Pomfrey tomorrow to see that you are eyesight is as well as you could be. It can be at any time of the day, just make sure that it happens tomorrow, understood?"

Harry nodded emphatically. "Yes, sir." He chirped.

He cleared his throat. "Well, Potter, I do believe you were supposed to be in bed hours ago." Snape said. He began to gently usher him towards the door.

Harry nodded. "I'm really tired, sir."

"Does your ache at all?"

"No, sir. It feels great. Thank you for the fine potion." Harry said, very seriously.

"Well, maybe one day you can make a potion like that." Snape found himself saying out of nowhere. It was only partially true. He doubted that Harry would make a potion as perfect as his, but it could certainly be usable.

The child's eyes lit up. "That would be wonderful! Then I could use it when unc-" He stopped himself quickly and he started that nervous thing with his hands again. "I-I mean that would really be great." He corrected.

Snape studied him for a moment longer, eyebrows slightly drawn together.

"Yes, well go to bed. You will not grow if you do not sleep."

Harry's eyes grew wide and he flung open the door, and got ready to break out into a run. He wanted to grow.

"Do _not _run in the hallways." Severus commanded sternly.

Harry stopped and nodded, thanking the teacher again.

Professor Snape watched him walk away briskly and almost smiled to himself.

He sat down at his desk and shifted a few things around, setting the empty vial that Harry had used in a drawer with a few others.

How preposterous that the boy thought he would be punished for having _his_ glasses stolen! There was something wrong with the child's logic, and Severus had no doubt that it had to do with those muggle relatives of his.

He made a mental note to speak to Albus about his living situation and then decided to retire to bed. It had been a long day, and once again he felt extremely old after talking with Harry.

He cast a quick _nox _and stepped outside of his office, only to find Harry standing there in the hall tracing patterns on the wall.

Once again Harry jumped when he heard his name.

"What in _Merlin's name_ are you doing now?" Snape asked, angrier than he had been the first time they had found themselves in this situation. He worked on keeping his voice level.

"I didn't know how to get back." Harry said frowning.

"And you did not think it wise to come into the office and tell me?" Severus asked, clearly exasperated.

"I didn't know what you were doing in there." Harry defended himself, and Severus did not dare think about what precisely Harry thought he might walk in on.

"You could have knocked." He ground out.

"I didn't think you'd want me to." Harry said, once again feeling as though it were obvious.

"And what if I hadn't come out for another two hours?" Snape asked loudly, grabbing the boy's arm and spinning him around. They started walking.

Harry made a face. "I hadn't thought that far." He felt like he was jogging to keep up with the man.

"What _am_ I going to do with you?" Snape muttered, mostly to himself. He ignored Harry's mindless chatter about this new game he learned about called Quidditch, and he was ever so thankful when they finally arrived at the boy's dorms.

When they reached the portrait he waited for Harry to speak, enter, and leave him alone at last. Instead the boy stood dumbly, cocked his head to the side and looked up at the professor.

"I forgot the password, sir."

Snape growled.


End file.
